The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Roaring Indians closing on limping Dodgers
Teams that coast into the playoffs in the final weeks of the baseball season can get complacent. They can lose a sense of urgency and get a startling wake-up call when the competition ratchets up in October. Sometimes they don’t wake up until it’s too late.
The Indians aren’t coasting into the 2017 playoffs despite their insurmountable lead over the second-place Minnesota Twins. They aren’t coasting because they still have much to play for in the final nine games in the regular season. They are playing for the right to play as many games at Progressive Field as they can.
After beating the Angels, 4-1, on Sept. 21 in Anaheim, the Indians are 96-57. They are two games ahead of Houston (93-58) for the best record in the American League and one game behind the Dodgers (97-56) for the best record in baseball.
The Dodgers hold the tiebreaker over the Indians, and the Tribe has the tiebreaker over the Astros.
Incredibly, the Indians were 20 games behind the Dodgers on the morning of Aug. 25 — the day after their 22-game winning streak began. They have won 27 of their last 28 games. The Dodgers are 6-20 since that 20-game lead began to melt.
The Indians have been almost invincible at home in the second half of the season. They went into the All-Star break 2124 at Progressive Field. Since then they are 24-6 at home. Six home games remain.
Home-field in the World Series goes beyond having the crowd behind the hosts and batting last. It means the difference in having the designated hitter for a possible four games instead of three.
Home-field advantage is just as critical to the Astros and Dodgers as it is to the Indians — especially the Dodgers, who, despite owning the best record, still haven’t clinched the National League West because they experienced a free-fall in August while the Arizona Diamondbacks were stitching together a 13-game winning streak.
The Dodgers are 52-23 in Dodger Stadium. The Astros are 46-31 in Minute Maid Park.
Of course, there can always
be upsets along the way. The Indians proved that a year ago. And that is why I regard the Yankees as the biggest threat to pull an upset in the American League. They have been chasing the Red Sox for a month. They have scored 811 runs, second only to the Astros in all of baseball. The Yankees pitchers are fifth in ERA at 3.74 — four spots behind the Indians with an MLBbest ERA of 3.36.
Likewise, the Nationals, Cubs or a National League wild-card team could eliminate the Dodgers. Still, finishing with the best record guarantees the Indians home-field advantage for as long as they are in the playoffs.
The Indians overall are even better on the road (51-27) than they are at
home. In fact, their road record is the best in all of baseball. The 22-game winning streak included an 11-0 run on the road in New York, Boston, Detroit and Chicago. They became the first team since the 1957 Reds to go 11-0 on the road.
Home-field advantage did not save the Indians in the World Series last year. They won Game 4 in Wrigley Field for a 3-1 series lead and then lost Game 5 in Chicago before losing the last two at Progressive Field.
Given the choice, though, if they get another crack at it, the Tribe would much rather play the final two games of the World Series at home again, where they can play Carlos Santana at first and Edwin Encarnacion as the
designated hitter.
Encarnacion taking his parrot on a World Seriesclinching home-run trot in the bottom of the ninth in Game 6 or Game 7 would be a perfect way to put a bow on this magical season and a perfect way to ease the anguish of falling one run short last year.
But if the World Series matchup ultimately is between the Indians and Dodgers, the Tribe must first finish with a better record for the Indians to take full advantage of all the power in their mighty lineup.
Indeed, they have plenty to play for in the final days of the season.